Movin' On Up
Baylor University moved up one place to No. 79 among 262 institutions in the Best National Universities category of U.S.News & World Report's 2011 list of America's Best Colleges. In addition, engineering and entrepreneurship continue to rank among the nation's top programs in their fields.
"We are pleased to move up in the U.S.News rankings, but we know that our true success is measured by so much more than that," Baylor President Ken Starr said. "We remain firmly committed to our mission as a leading Christian university, while providing an exceptional academic experience for our students."
Baylor moved up to the third-ranked university in the Big 12 Conference in the U.S. News rankings, behind only Texas at No. 45 and Texas A&M at No. 63, and past Colorado, which was ranked No. 86 this year. Other Big 12 rankings included Iowa State and Missouri at No. 94, Kansas and Nebraska at No. 104, Oklahoma at No. 111, Kansas State and Oklahoma State at No. 132 and Texas Tech at No. 159.
Undergraduate Engineering Continues to Climb
Baylor's engineering program continues to be highly ranked, moving up to No. 11 among universities with the "Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs." The category is for schools whose highest engineering degree offered is a bachelor's or master's degree. Baylor will soon begin offering a research-oriented Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering, which was approved by the Baylor Board of Regents in February.
"Baylor engineering faculty and students are making great strides, and as a result, it is no surprise we're knocking on the door of a top 10 national ranking," said Dr. Benjamin Kelley, dean of Baylor's School of Engineering and Computer Science and professor of engineering. "And this is great recognition for Baylor, too, to have one up-and-coming program be the university's highest-ever ranked school or college."
During the past decade, the school has added four master's degree programs and doubled the size of its faculty. The new doctoral program will provide a significant boost to the university's collaborative and interdisciplinary research base, as well as to the level of externally generated research funding. This reflects the university's commitment to the newly established Central Texas Technology and Research Park and the park's first project, the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative (BRIC), of which engineering will be a significant player.
Undergraduate Business Programs Highly Ranked
Baylor's undergraduate business program in the Hankamer School of Business is ranked No. 57 in this year's rankings by U.S. News. Baylor's entrepreneurship program -- one of the first of its kind in the country -- is 15th among the nation's best entrepreneurship programs.
"Baylor engages business students in real-life learning opportunities as well as rigorous classroom work," said Dr. Terry Maness, BA '71, MS '72, dean of Baylor's Hankamer School of Business and professor of finance. "We continue to strengthen our pioneering entrepreneurship program by integrating entrepreneurship with other disciplines, such as engineering, computer science and theatre, as well as expanding the reach of the program to other countries."
The U.S. News college rankings group schools based on categories created by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The 2011 Best Colleges package provides a thorough examination of how more than 1,400 accredited four-year schools compare on a set of up to 16 widely-accepted indicators of excellence: peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving, and, for National Universities and National Liberal Art Colleges, "graduation rate performance" and high school counselor ratings of colleges.
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